Michael McDowell looks up at speeds during a practice session for the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Michael McDowell insisted his first NASCAR Cup Series pole in his 467th career start was not a surprise.
Following a close runner-up finish in last week’s Daytona 500 qualifying, McDowell said he knew his Front Row Motorsports Ford would be fast on Saturday.
After starting beside Daytona 500 pole winner Joey Logano on the front row last week, McDowell edged Logano in qualifying for Sunday’s race. McDowell was first with a fast lap of 178.844 miles per hour on Atlanta Motor Speedway’s 1.54-mile track. Logano continued another strong day for Ford drivers by claiming the No. 2 spot at 174.424 mph.
“I don’t think it’s too much of a coincidence,” McDowell said of his duels with Logano in back-to-back weeks. “I say that because with both qualifying sessions being a superspeedway and superspeedway package we sort of knew coming from Daytona that we were going to have good speed. So not a huge surprise but really cool.”
McDowell, 39, won the 2021 Daytona 500. His only other Cup Series win came at Indianapolis in 2023.
After starting second last week and leading six laps at Daytona, McDowell finished 36th. He said he needs a strong finish in Atlanta to help set the stage for a strong season.
“It’s fun today, but it doesn’t count for too much for tomorrow,” McDowell said of winning the pole. “I’ve got to go out and make it count. For us, more than anything, we need to score some points, having some issues at Daytona put us behind.”
Be the first to comment